This invention relates to instruments for handling small articles, particularly consumable catalyst elements employed in disinfecting contact lenses.
The widely used soft contact lenses generally require disinfecting treatment to prevent eye-damaging growth of microorganisms. In addition to a disinfecting treatment of the lenses using boiling solutions, an alternative disinfecting treatment has been developed in which hydrogen peroxide solution is decomposed to liberate disinfecting oxygen, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,941. This patent describes a lens storage container in which the hydrogen peroxide decomposition and disinfection treatment are promoted by a layer of catalytic platinum deposited on a molded ring. The catalytic ring is gradually deactivated and periodically replaced. In order to provide acces to the ring for replacement, the ring is held on a removable bottom of the lens container to which it must be secured by a post projecting from the bottom. Accordingly, this arrangement requires that not only the top of the container, but also the bottom of the container be fabricated for disassembly from the container body, increasing the complexity and expense of fabrication.